Bob Richards

Monday, July 11, 2016

In A Galaxy Far Away but somewhat similar to our own there were two politicians running
against each other for the presidency of a great land...their names?
Hillary and Donald. Hillary was the leader of the
Republicans.....Donald was that of the Democrats.
Yes I know....a reversal of what we know. A nation on this world was split with an extremely difficult choice for the reason their favor-ability numbers were both so high. The land had an incredibly high regard for both . Dear Lady Hillary had the background of being the
top CEO of a internet security company which produced software ensuring
the web sites of governments or businesses could never be compromised or
hacked and she provided special training herself for their clients on
proper protocols in maintaining a secure system.

She was highly commended as
well for choosing to run her political campaign spending the least
amount possible but sending much of her excess money to charities that help the
poor. She chose as well to use free media feeling she was setting an example of
prudence in how she'd likewise use the tax dollars if elected as sparingly
as possible. Her political opponent who was commonly referred
to as "The Donald" had built a financial empire as a
motivational speaker, having penned such writings as "The Fair Deal" and
" I've Got Lots of Friends and You Can Too!" He served as well as top CEO
of "The Better Business Bureau" ensuring consumers would at all times
be treated in a right and fair manner.

Such was the the tough choice
that the electorate had to face.....which one of these super great
prospects would win the Presidency? Media outlets were extremely
troubled. When the national television debates transpired how possibly
could they have a sense of drama? Both of them were categorized as being just too nice! Without a certain measure of excitement or controversy
the fear was that viewers would consider it a bore... thus turning it off. Surely the ratings would tank! "The Donald" had already described
Hillary as one of the most HONEST people he had ever known and Hillary
as well had nothing but the best to say about him. How therefore could
Honest Hillary and True Blue Donald ever be interesting to watch?

Well the LIVE, National Wide debates began and yes their policies were different but as expected they treated each other with exceptional respect never interrupting each other and even acknowledging the others arguments were valid. Days later they came out with a joint statement that they were blending their policies into one much to the abhorrence of both of their respective parties. This did not go unanswered by the establishment of both the Dems and Repubs....the Repubs immediately ousted Hillary and the Dems the Donald by the putting in of new rules. That spurred both of them to jointly go ahead with an independent bid for the White House with both running together. Gentleman Donald insisted that Honest Hillary serve as the top of the ticket for the first term and he'd take the second. Ladies before Gentlemen was Donald's stalwart position.

Their political opponents sought to marginalize them being too whitey two shoes; weak because of their non-aggressive style. Much to their surprise however the party of get along, Hillary and Donald WON! They took a second term as well winning well over 70% of the vote! It goes without saying they became the most beloved political figures of the land and even their world. There became no bounds as to the honors bestowed upon each but I'll mention here at least two. A year of so after their presidenciesa sculptor by the name of Leonardo working with the State of North Dakota (not South mind you) came up with a fitting way to honor them both. The idea was (which indeed was carried out) was to sculpt both of their facial images in the side of a hill. They'd also add the bust of two other beloved Presidents as well....Jim Carter and Rich Nixon. It was thought all four of them deserved a larger than life persona to live on for perpetual generations. And so it was done.

The name of the Hill....Mount Rushless which many in the land came to refer it as "The Hill" giving further praise to Hillary. An even more distinguished honor was to have the National Space Agency make an announcement they were going to have both Hillary's and Donald's pictures and list of their achievements, including other things from the world as well contained in a time capsule on board an unmanned space probe to be sent out into the far reaches of space. It was decided the probes course would be in the direction of a star cluster known as "The Way Which Looks Milky". Telescopes had discovered in that sector a small blue/green planet encircling a small star....a place where it looks like intelligent life might someday develop or perhaps at least a measure of such.

By sending out the best things the world had produced the feeling was it might serve to be an inspiration for similar Donalds and Hillarys to arise across the Universe! Surely these two embodied the very definition of the terms exceptional and great! This led to a line spoken by many that Donald and Hillary were going to BOLDLY GO where no politicians have gone before! This was the dream of this world to take this message across the galaxy! It goes without saying however the world which had the appearance of the blue and green (which those who live there refer to as Earth) when they found the probe and read it's contents the conclusion was made a Donald/Hillary coming together might not universally be a good thing. They sent back the probe in the direction from whence it came with the inscription placed upon it....TO EACH HIS OWN! One thing that can be agreed regardless of what universe or galaxy they find themselves in...the Donalds and the Hillarys BOLDLY GO where none have gone before!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

This just in....Lady Liberty, yes the
Statue of Liberty is crying in New York's harbor. You guessed
it....due to the 2016 Presidential election. Liberty is her happiest
when the best, most qualified individuals are at the helm of America's leadership however she's looked over the great land and has become
bewildered and disillusioned at the prospects at just who'll be in charge. She's heard the word....the two
Presidential contenders from both parties have the greatest disapproval
numbers in history...not much to be excited about.

Yes Hillary just won
the leadership race for the Dems....exciting right? Perhaps not when
one looks at the numbers. While Hillary achieved the magic delegate
count consider the details. In the DEM's own primaries Hillary received
1.5 million fewer votes then she did in 2008! For the party over all
they scored 7 million less votes as compared to 2008 as well.
Encouraging? I'd suggest not. Even in her big win in California against
Sanders she scored 1,841,285 votes, but it's worth to note in her 2008 run
against Barack Obama her California tally was 2,608,184! What's that
mean? That's a 30% drop of support for Hillary from eight years ago!

To
put it politely it could be the American populace and yes even the Dems
consider the dear lady as less then sincere when it comes to her legal
issues. Yes it's still early but this might be a
stay home election for those traditionally prone to vote. Hillary's
support is weak regardless of her actual wins. And then there's the
Donald. He's done well in the primaries scoring high among his base but
can he appeal to the great many others needed to clinch a Presidency?
With Donald it's been like one step forward, two steps backwards and at
the time of this writing the reality is the planets have aligned for the
perfect storm for his opponent and he should be having a hay day with
Clinton, scoring major points in his case against her...and yet he's
struggling to overcome controversies of his own making leading to a
revolt of sorts of members of his own party withdrawing their
endorsements.

The latest issue was Trump's suggesting a U.S. judge,
Gonzalo Curiel is being biased against him due to being a decedent of
Mexican parents. The said judge was born in Indiana. Americans claim
to have a standard of ethics they cherish which says stereotyping an
individual claiming they can't render a fair decision of things because
of ethnicity is unacceptable. So true! I agree!

Wouldn't it be nice
to see however that everyone be given the same benefit of the doubt
that true equality be used as a template for all citizens of America?
Consider....it's been deemed a perfectly acceptable practice that
defense attorneys in representing their clients feel it's only fair to
stack a jury full of individuals who are of the same ethnicity as the one they represent. The reasoning is? That their client may have a "FAIR TRIAL".
Consider the 1995 trial of O.J. Simpson. The jury make up? Out of 12... 9
were black, 1 was Hispanic and 2 were white. This is not to say the
trials of whites don't overload the juries with a makeup which reflects
their own ethnicity as well.

Also consider that in picks for the U.S.
Supreme court that ethnicity has been used as a criteria for
acceptance. Supreme Court Judge, Sonia Sotomayor was denounced by very
few people for suggesting her gender and national origins as being a
Latino may well make a difference in her judging....in other words to
the end result of giving a person a fair and balanced trial. Not a
wrong way of reasoning too? Donald has said the same thing from a
different perspective and yet he's become universally condemned. Having
said all this....YES TRUMP WAS WRONG...the acceptable standard should be
that all citizens be given the benefit of the doubt that they can be
fair and impartial when making decisions.

By drawing into question the
judge's ability to do so should be deemed unacceptable and it'd be wise
for him to recant but LADY LIBERTY in the harbor knows that's not in the cards and
neither will the rest of the nation on the other side which do the same,
thus....LIBERTY weeps. If fairness is not for all with no double
standard employed then LIBERTY laments that her spirit may not truly be
in the hearts of the people. Who meets the qualifications of being one
who can be fair and impartial? Shouldn't it be any citizen who have
given no evidence to the contrary? Maybe we should cheer up Liberty today by looking
at the bigger picture! She's held up her torch of freedom for years! I wonder if it's time to hold up the best of our characters as well.

Monday, May 9, 2016

You've heard of the African-American vote, the Hispanic Vote, the Evangelical Vote.....how about this one....The Pass Away Vote!

This takes the prize for today's Strange, Bizarre and Weird....a man in his obituary leaves a request for people NOT to vote for Hillary Clinton. A Massachusetts man who recently passed away left an interesting
political message in his obituary. He urged people not to vote for
Hillary Clinton.
Yahoo News ...

Man’s Obituary Asks People Not to Vote For Hillary Clinton
In lieu of flowers, do not vote for Hillary Clinton.
That’s the final wish of one Massachusetts man, who asked friends and family not to pick the Democrat in his obituary. Carl Crocetti, 62, passed away on Sunday after a decline in health over the past year.

“Carl requested in lieu of flowers that people elect NOT to
vote for Hillary Clinton in the presidential election in November,” his
obituary reads.

It's been said that Donald The Trump in the polls is behind Hillary by double digits....if one factors in the PASS AWAY vote who knows it might breath new life into his campaign and put him over the top. Perhaps Hillary should be knocking on tombstones to see if she can garner support. Maybe a flower at each grave might do the trick?

Saturday, May 7, 2016

Could many Republicans be looking at the future of their party in the
same way Charlton Heston did in the movie "The Planet of the Apes" ???
You'll recall the scene where he looked up at that lone figure, the
Statue of Liberty that he saw half buried in the sand bringing him to
the shocking realization that this was his world, not some other .....and that somehow it tragically met it's demise...all he held
dear....destroyed!

Perhaps Republicans can relate to that apocalyptic.
scenario. With the rise and win of Trump all notions that things would
continue business as usual have been brought to nought and perceived
expectations came crashing down. This was to be the year when someone
like a Chris Christie or a Jeb Bush were to strut their stuff and
presumably get the nod. When it comes to Jeb, he was after all a Bush
and surely the electorate most certainly would consider it best to let
thedynasty continue. His
father became President, his brother, so his turn BUT.... no. He hit
the wall. The Donald Wall!

The electorate drew the line and said
enough! Out with the old...in with the new! The GOP is not the same and
maybe never again will be. It's ruins lay out there much like Lady
Liberty fallen over in the Heston film. Donald Trump is not considered
as a true Conservative and Republican party members in mass feel
flabbergasted. The real question they're poised with now is can they
rebuild what they considered their once grand party or surrender to
their disillusionment and question why even bother?

The party is being
morphed into something different, a beast of a different type and sort
and one wonders if the old guard even have the capability of surviving
the transformation. Their day may be done and their names may serve
only now as memorials on headstones in the political graveyards speaking
of the past. Rest In Peace?? Or will they have to settle with unrest
of a perpetually kind!

Monday, May 2, 2016

Strange, bizarre and weird....Indiana Governor's endorsement of Ted Cruz
for the Republican nominee. Media outlets have been chuckling
everywhere in the way and manner Governor Pence stated his endorsement.
See below, "I respect all three of the Republican candidates in the field. I particularly want to commend
Donald Trump, who I think has given voice to the frustration of
millions of working Americans with a lack of progress in Washington,
D.C. I am also particularly grateful that Donald Trump has taken a strong
stand for Hoosier jobs when we saw jobs of the Carrier company abruptly
announce leaving Indiana. Not for another state, but for Mexico. I’m
grateful. I’m grateful for his voice in the national debate.”

(My
commentary: Heaping such praise upon Trump I suppose the Trump camp
were ecstatic that it looked like they had this endorsement in the bag.
He used the term particularly grateful in regard to Trump twice but did
not even mention the other candidates.....but then,

“I’ve come to my decision about who I’m supporting, and I’m not against anybody.”

(My
commentary: An oxymoron statement? If you've made a statement of
support haven't you therefore withheld the nod from the other two
succeeding? Doesn't that mean therefore that you're against them, or
you're opposed to them getting the win. Finally he brings the absolute
clarification,

“But I will be voting for Ted Cruz in the upcoming Republican primary.”

(Commentary:
In a interview with Fox news, Governor Mike Hukabee made the following
observation that it appeared that Pence if a betting man was putting
down 5 for Cruz, 4 for Trump and 3 for Kasich. He further stated that
the Cruz campaign must have been squirming in their seats to hear such a
weak endorsement. One wonders if Cruz probably felt a little more
passion in giving me the nod would have been nice Governor! It's been
said that Pence if up for re-election and didn't want to offend
anyone...which begs the question .....so why bother giving an
endorsement to begin with? Wouldn't it had been perfectly acceptable to
stay neutral? That's gets the prize for the SBW of the day. [STRANGE, BIZARRE WEIRD]

Thursday, April 28, 2016

It's being called an unprecedented, extraordinary alliance to stop
Donald Trump from getting delegates in the contests ahead....that being
the states of Indiana, New Mexico and Oregon. The idea is this that
Kasich will not spend time campaigning in Indiana thereby it's believed
giving Cruz a better chance at beating Trump and in return Cruz would
pull out of the race in the states of New Mexico and Oregon allowing
Kasich to compete solely against the Donald. Interesting. One has to
wonder if their orchestrating this plan could be compared to a Titanic
analogy. As the great ship was sinking out of desperation flares were
set off and the pumps were working but only allowing them a small
measure of time or a last ditch attempt to save the ship. I guess we'll
see though how each of the two would do head to head against Trump as
his sole competitor.

To illustrate the polls show this for Indiana

Trump 41%
Cruz 33%
Kasich 16%

Remove
Kasich from that contest and where exactly will the 16 % land? It'll
be fascinating to watch quite risky but probably the last ditch attempt
to bring Trump's numbers down. If Trump however does pull off the win
Cruz and Kasich handed Donald a lot of ammunition for some convincing
rhetoric ....even when they take actions together they still loose.
Trump was not pleased. He made the following statement,

"Wow,
just announced that Lyin' Ted and Kasich are going to collude in
order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!"
He also added, "Collusion is often illegal in many other industries and
yet these two Washington insiders have had to resort to collusion in
order to stay alive."

A fair question to Donald might be isn't
this what you claimed you wanted all along......to go head to head
against Cruz without the Kasich effect? Thus was Trump's request on
April 4th as seen in the link below.

Why
haven't Donald's opponents called him on this? Shouldn't they
inquire isn't this what you said you wanted all along? Well you've got
your one on one Donald! Let's see what you can do! My thoughts....with
Donald's convincing win in New York and his latest 5 state sweep days
later it seems likewise the Indiana contest might favor him as well.
Donald seems to be on a roll and the Indiana Republicans might be
tempted to join the band wagon. The actual numbers of the 5 state win
by Trump could indeed confirm to the Indiana Re-pubs that Cruz would
have an extremely hard time not just wining but also competing in the
general.
The numbers tell it all,

Connecticut Trump 57%
Kasich 28%Cruz 11%

Delaware Trump 60%
Kasich 20%Cruz 15%

MarylandTrump 54%
Kasich 23%Cruz 18%

PennsylvaniaTrump 56%Cruz 21%
Kasich 19%

Rhode Island Trump 63%
Kasich 24%Cruz 10%

The
question asked by Indianans might be if Cruz has more or less bottomed
out on his numbers along the east coast and that among Republicans what
possible chance would he have in the general? Even with Trump's high
numbers it'll be hard even for him to compete against the
Democrats...how much more for Cruz? Plus when one considers Ted
bottomed out as well in the state of Florida where's the practical
reason of placing a vote his way? Granted many vote for the sole reason
of making a statement so that their support of whatever or whoever
serves to show a substantial level of backing for certain principals
BUT.....if you're goal is to win the White House the chief thing many
would hold is who has a better chance of winning country wide. Cruz?
Perhaps that's become now a hard argument to make?

Friday, April 1, 2016

Strange, bizarre and weird.....Trump's campaign got in trouble today
when asked a hypothetical question in regard to abortion. It was asked
by Chris Matthews of NBC, IF abortion ever became illegal should a women
be punished for still having one? The Donald spoke in the affirmative
thus stepping into trouble. Why bizarre and weird? Why should a
question of such a nature even be framed given the high probability at
close to 100 % that such will never happen? A trap set for Trump?
Looking at the question how really could anyone answer it? Wouldn't a
law cease to be a law without a determent for breaking it? So what would
have been a fair and sane question? How about do you believe abortion
should be illegal, yes or no? Wouldn't suggesting the other promote law
breaking bypassing proper legal channels to change it?

So a fair
question to the Donald? In this instance I'd say NO. Interesting though
it doesn't really matter. The trap was set and Trump walked into it. The
said journalist knows so well that the headline won't read "Trump is
asked a hypothetical question about if a law exists" but rather it'll
read, "Trump say one who has an abortion should be punished". No not my mere theory for that's whats in the headlines today. Am I a great fan
of Trump to be President? Not really although I do like a few of his
lines such as bring back the jobs from China. In regard to the question
though it would be nice to see the Dems asked the same, so Hillary do
you believe legislatures should make laws without penalties for
breaking them? You say NO that would make no sense? Exactly and Trump
basically said the same.

Now later on this issue Trump has adjusted his
position to line himself up with what various Pro-Life organizations put
out....that they'd never want to see a women prosecuted for having an
abortion but rather the abortion provider. Isn't the weirdness of the
question still evident though? Why pose hypothetical questions
which have no REAL probability of being relevant? How about it's being
rather hypocritical for being so hypothetical for they know they'd never
ask such an impossible question to a Hillary Rodham Clinton.